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Super
Cup Swings into the Shenandoah Valley for Season Opener Saturday
The Super Cup Stock
Car Series embarks on its sixth full season of competition this
weekend with fast speeds and a scenic mountain backdrop at the 3/8
mile Shenandoah Speedway in Virginia.
Drivers and teams
will be chasing Jody Harrison, who comes into the 2013 season as
three-time defending champion. The
team has not made any major changes over the off-season and kept the
car in the trailer throughout the winter.
Joe Harrison Jr., Jody’s father, owner and a former NASCAR
competitor in the 1980’s commented that Shenandoah is similar to
the track that hosted the last series race, Motordrome Speedway.
The differences being that the newer Shenandoah is much
smoother and has a tighter radius in the turns. To compensate for
this, the team plans to take some gear out and add more left rear
spring in preparation for the race.
What will it take
to win another championship? Joe
summarizes that some good luck, taking it one race at a time and
racing the track rather than the competitors will play a part.
“Jody has enough knowledge, and after just a few laps he
knows what to change. He
won’t go back out without making an adjustment.
We’re going to have fun and have a good time.”
This will be the
first visit to Shenandoah for the series since 2009.
During that race weekend, Harvey Harrison was victorious and
should be a threat for the win once again.
Additional returning drivers from that year will be Kevin
Kromer and Brian Harrison, who will have the necessary experience to
contend as well.
Although he has
never competed at the track, Rob Morris will now call Shenandoah
home among those that are on the 2013 schedule. It will be the
Herndon, Virginia driver’s second season in the series after a
lifetime of road course racing.
His outlook on the race and beyond:
“The car is ready to go, and the off-season included a new
body and freshening the entire car except the engine.
We’re looking to improve the setup of the car this season
so we can be a consistent top five finisher. We’re
hoping to get off to a good start at Shenandoah.”
Along with the
experienced drivers, the series will have its share of newcomers
making their first career Super Cup start at Shenandoah.
West Chester, Ohio’s Kyle Baugh comes from a vast
background including karts and Miniature Motorsports Racing
Association Minicups and Baby Grands, which have competed at
Shenandoah in the past. He
has most recently been competing for the past four years in Legends
Cars in the FAST Midwest Series.
While he might be a
rookie driver in the Super Cup Series, Derrick Layne is entering his
17th year racing which began in super trucks at Anderson
Speedway. He also has
some CRA Street Stock experience and served as crew chief for J.P.
Crabtree III during his Super Cup rookie year in 2012.
McGunegill Engines as well as his dad help foot the bill for
his effort in the Don Gnatt Motorsports machine.
The Muncie, Indiana driver hopes to load the car up in one
piece and improve results with an ultimate goal of some top three or
top five finishes.
Petersburg, West
Virginia’s Codie Rohrbaugh comes to the series with several years
of karting experience including some World Karting Association
championships. Despite
it being his first race in a full bodied stock car, Codie has high
expectations after a recent test at Shenandoah.
These are just a
few of the drivers to look out for when the Super Cup Stock Car
Series runs their 100 lap feature Saturday evening at the Virginia
facility. www.supercupstockcarseries.com
will be the place to go for a recap and more from the night’s
events if fans are unable to make it to the track.
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